This is a sad situation. The owner's wife thought the system was working. Only after I noticed that the system was isolated and opened the isolation valves, did it become obvious that there was a problem. A leak at a pipe joint in the feed line at the roof was seen. There was no insulation on any of the piping on the roof.

The owner then recalled that the cold feed piping joint on the roof developed a leak very soon after the system was installed. The owner contacted the installer who came back and supposedly fixed the leak. The owner stated that the unit started leaking again at the same location soon after this repair. The leak is a simple solder joint leak that could be fixed in minutes. Thus, ever since the system was installed, the system has been isolated because of this leak. It appears that the owner isolated the system and has not taken advantage of it since.

She suspects that her husband isolated the system after the installer failed to correct the problem.